Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-02
IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS
WOodman Spare That Tree and Plant
Ten Where You Would
Fell One.
The Effect of Forests on Rainfall-Why
Not Have an Arbor Day
for Texas?

ests; stage when he finds that this tree
covering of the lands is necessary for the
of those conditions of CHI
mate and timber-supply on which the
utility of the earth to him in good part
depends. The frontiersman, that essence
Of the practical man, is still a slayer of
woods, and believes that he serves the
god Of progress by the sacrifice of the for
est. But as knowledge advances, the
thoughtful classes become more and more
concerned as to the conditions OF this
earth during the centuries to come, when
this sWift-advancing ruin of our woods
shall have been completed. Most persons
will heartily agree that it is our bounden
duty to transmit the Inheritance which
we enjoy in the earth unimpaired to the
generations yet to be. It is, unhappily,
impossible for US so to manage the store
of utilities which the earth affords that
there shall be no dlminution of the sup
ply for ages to come. It is probable that
the supply Of coal will in good part have
disappeared by the year 5000; and in the
fourth nillenial period of our era, time
less remote in the future than the birth
of Christ in the past, the metals now in
use will have to be won with great diff
culty-if obtained at all. Still we may
trust the advance of knowledge and skill
to compensate for these losses; solar
energy may be trusted to afford heat and
aluminium to take the place of iron; and
the world may be the better for the
change which forced rustless metal and
dustless fuel into use-at any rate, we
see that the supply of mineral resources
of the earth necessary for our successors
may be prolonged for time in the future
which is long beyond our power to con-
ceive.
1t is otherwise with the soil-covering
OF the earth's surface. So far as we can
see, that is the least enduring and the
least replacable of any of those features
on which the life of the earth depends.
1t is the harvest of the ages; and once
lost, it cannot be supplied except by the
cons of time. The most serious mis-
fortune connected with the reckless
destruction of our forests arises from
the loss of the soil from large areas
of land, by which regions nstur-
ally fertile have been converted into
deserts of irremediable steril;ty.
Already large part of many fertile re-
giOns have been sterllized in this fashion ;
and each year larger portion of this in
finitely precious heritage of life slips into
the rivers, and finds its way to the sea,
because we have deprived it of the pro-
tecting coating of vegetation. Therefore,
it is not alone on account of the surpass-
ing intellectual interest that forests pre-
sent to US, but also from the graVest
reasons of economy, that they deserve to
be attentively studied.
FORESTS AND RAINFALL
The t&ngIe of decayed vegetation
forest is OF considerable thickness On
top it consists altogether of the deceyed
trunks, branches, and leaves, but it
shades downward into ordinary dark
colored soil at the depth of few feet
from the surface. This, the decay
zone of the forest, lies between the
boughs of the air and the branches of
the roots In it go on the most
important actions which take place
| in our CONSIDERATIONS which affect the
history of land and sea. We shall there
fore have .te Consider it in a somewhat
paiustaking way. The most evident eff
Iisetet this sheet of decaying wood, and
moss which feels on the decay, is on the
rainfall of the region which it fnantles.
When, after a season of drought, copi-
Gus rain falls upon this spongy mass, the
water is for a long time absorbed in the
| interstiCes, and does not flow to the riv-
ers, Even in times of very heavy rain
the water is slowly yielded to the
streams; after q dry period of many
weeks this sponge retains a good share
of water like amount of rain falling
on titled fields or prairies slips quickly
sway to the rivers and thence to the sea.
The first result is that when the land il
destitute OF forests it sheds water like
house roofs, breeding floods after every
considerable rain, while IN the forests
the Eain is only slowly yielded to the
streams
a second and less evident result Of the
spongy character of the forest bed is that,
by hindering the escape of the rain-water
to the rivers, it increases the actual rain
fall of the country. To see the nature
and Importance of this action, we must
turn aside for a moment to consider the
origin of the rain which falls upon the
land. The original source OF this water
supply is the sea, which sends into the
land tOlersDly regular annual store of
moisture When this falls as rain or
snow, either of two things may happen
the water may 60 away directly to the
sea, or it may return to the atmosphere
as vapor to be again preeipitated as rain.
The chance of it's re-evaporatiOn is de-
termined by the speed with which it flows
to the streams. From tree.ess region
it rapidly escapes; in an extensive dis
trict of virgin forest it may again and
again pass from earth to air, and from air
to earth.
The columns of vapor, whichiiu times
of summer rain may be seen ascending
from every great wood, aff5rd visible
evidence of the effect of forests on
rainfall. They also show the observer
some of the most beautiful phenomena
of atmospheric circulation. In a sum-
mer rain-shewer the air above the
trees becomes much cooler than it is
in the recesses below their tents of
foliage. This heated air within
the wood seeks to rise, and escapes
in great columns wherever there
is wide gap between the branches; as
soon as 1t sttsins the cooler level above,
the moisture is condensed and the air,
before transparent, becomes charged with
steam. To replace this ascending air,